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WOMAN IN WAITING

Based on the life of Thembi Mtshali-Jones

Written by Yaël Farber with Thembi Mtshali-Jones

International award-winning “WOMAN IN WAITING” is a powerful biographical journey into the dark heart of what life was like for women in Apartheid South Africa. In this one-woman “tour de force”, Thembi Mtshali-Jones leads us from her memories of a rural childhood, waiting to see her mother once a year; through the exhilaration of urban chaos and unfolding realizations of the humiliations her mother endures; to Mtshali-Jone's own years as a domestic worker - leaving her baby to tend other's children as her mother once had to leave her. Her transformation into a performer and singer who would bear witness to these years, is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and a celebration of the capacity to “speak or our hearts will burst”. Through searing narrative, lullabies, chanting, haunting images and powerful song - A WOMAN IN WAITING speaks for South African matriarchs who have endured life in the shadow of Apartheid's brutal grip, and held themselves and their families together against unimaginable odds.

WORLD STAGE FESTIVAL, TORONTO"In theatre, the highest ambition of the art is to share one's most profound authenticity. Rarely has it been achieved so powerfully and eloquently. Do not miss this"Read the article (PDF file)

CUE - NATIONAL FEST OF THE ARTS, SOUTH AFRICA"Mtshali has an incredible presence... she may make you laugh or cry within minutes... Almost overwhelming... Haunting... powerful"Read the article (PDF file)

THE CITIZEN, JOHANNESBURG"One of the most powerful and sincere plays I have seen... Mtshali is a revelation... A towering, resounding performance”Read the article (PDF file)

THE ARGUS, CAPE TOWN"A standing ovation is what she received and […] what she undeniably deserved… Refuses to allow us to suffer from apartheid amnesia… Mtshali has an astounding presence…"Both Farber and Mtshali deserve an award".Read the article (PDF file)

It was whilst watching the televised Truth and Reconciliation Hearings each Sunday night several years ago that I was first struck by a haunting, silent presence on the periphery of these proceedings: the women – mothers, daughters, wives of those murdered or still missing – who had come to the hearings finally to learn the truth about the deaths of their loved ones. The patience and forbearance of these women struck a deep chord. They seemed to have the waiting thread knitted inextricably into the fabric of their souls. Where had these women learned such grace and dignity in the face of South Africa's darkness and personal despair? This unique state of waiting is so familiar to those who grew grown up in that troubled country. We have witnessed – indeed come to expect – such stoicism from the silent force of women in South Africa: Queuing endlessly for transport every morning and evening; Waiting silently to clear employers' dinner tables; Calmly waiting to see their children once a year at Christmas time. These matriarchs are the spine of a society that has endured the limit a regime can impose. Women have always been the filters for a society: the vessels through which the pain of a community flows. Whether or not we choose to acknowledge the pain of our past, it is a tangible force that waits – like these women – for its time to be acknowledged. A WOMAN IN WAITING is a celebration of one such woman. Thembi Mtshali-Jones – like most South African women – has a story of waiting to tell. She shared her story with me with courage and honesty – and from her life events we created a piece of theatre which we hope speaks for those who never will.